On March 19, the FBI’s New York Field Office warned crypto users about fake FBI-themed tokens being distributed on the Tron blockchain to steal personal information.
The scam tokens tell recipients that their wallet is “under investigation” and threaten to block their assets unless they complete an online anti-money-laundering verification form. The FBI said users should ignore the tokens and not enter any information on linked websites.
The tokens were created about eight days before the warning. At least 728 wallets were holding them when the alert was issued. Several of those wallets reportedly contained more than US$1 million (AU$1.4 million) in USDT.
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The scam uses Tron because the network is cheap and fast for mass distribution. TRM Labs has documented how attackers use bots to monitor active wallets and send dust transactions within seconds.
One address sent about 920 transactions using roughly 120 TRX, or around US$40 (AU$56). Another address carried out about 4,800 account-creation transactions, indicating a setup built to generate large numbers of spoofed addresses.
Chainalysis estimated total crypto scam and fraud losses at US$17 billion (AU$23 billion) in 2025, up from US$12 billion (AU$16 billion) in 2024. Impersonation scams rose 1,400% year over year, and AI-assisted scams were 4.5 times more profitable than traditional methods.
The case also mirrors an earlier FBI blockchain operation. In 2024, the bureau created an Ethereum token called NexFundAI as part of Operation Token Mirrors, a wash-trading sting that led to 18 indictments and more than US$25 million (AU$35.5 million) in seized assets.
The FBI said anyone who receives the fake tokens should report the scam to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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